Child safety seats have become more and more popular and thus have also become more and more inventive and effective in manners of securing the child safety seat to a vehicle seat. Most commonly a child safety seat rests on a vehicle seat and is secured thereon by the corresponding vehicle seat belt. This method is effective in preventing a child seat from flying off the vehicle seat when rapid deceleration of the respective automobile occurs, as in an accident. However, even when the vehicle""s seat belt is pulled tight, there is still undesirable slipping and movement of the child seat on the vehicle seat which may allow for the tippage of the child seat or additional snapping forward of the child seat and thus excessive torque and force upon the infant.
There have been many recent improvements on the common method of securing the child seat to the vehicle seat rather then merely use of the vehicle""s seat belt. Darrow in U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,046 disclosed an apparatus for anchoring a child seat within a motor vehicle through the use of an anchorage bar. Stack, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,604 disclosed a child seat with a tether hook on a strap, and a vehicle seat with a connector receptacle on the rear portion of the seat, whereby the tether hook is associated with the connector receptacle. Also, Jackson et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,819 disclosed a child seat with a removable base frame, whereby said base frame is directly and removably attachable to a vehicle seat frame.
The instant invention also relates to a method for securely attaching a child seat to a child restraint seat to insure the proper location for the child restraint system and to insure the strength of the system in order to reduce the likelihood of the anchorage systems"" failure. The instant invention relates to the effective securing of child seats to child restraint seats to increase the likelihood that restraints of child seats are properly secured and thus more fully achieve their potential of effectiveness in motor vehicles as set out in the standards in National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Section 571,225, Standard No. 225, Child Restraint Anchorage Systems.
The instant invention relates to a method of securing a child in a vehicle by means of a child seat system, wherein said system includes a child seat and a child restraint seat and where the child seat has rearwardly projecting anchorage means, and the child restraint seat is an integral and permanent part of a previously existing seat frame or it is installed as OEM in the vehicle.
The invention applies to child restraint anchorage systems for passenger cars, trucks, multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 pounds or less and to buses including school buses, with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less. This invention, accordingly, applies best to passenger vehicles equipped with free-standing passenger seats, to passenger vehicles equipped with three or more forward facing rear designated seating positions, and to passenger vehicles for which the anchorage system is accessible without removing a seating component of the vehicle.
The present invention comprises a system for securing a child seat to a child restraint seat. Said system includes a child restraint seat that is fixedly associated with and supported by a vehicle frame member, where said frame member has rigid engagement means for attachment to a vehicle in order that the frame member and vehicle are an integral part of the seat; and having a cross-member that is rigidly secured thereto with a plurality of metal loops attached to said cross-member wherein two of said loops project forward toward the front of the seat in a horizontal plane parallel to the horizontal portion of said seat and another of the loops projects rearward of said cross-member. The loops are rigidly secured to the cross-member and are readily available for use as anchorage attachment tether points; and the child seat has securing means that are anchored to said forward projecting loops to act as two of the anchorage attachment tether points; and the rearwardly projecting loop is secured to act as a tethering anchor for the child restraint seat by being removably associated with a tether hook that is associated with a strap that is secured to the child seat. In addition, this system is accessible without the need of any tools other than a screwdriver or a coin, and once accessed, it is ready to be sealed without the need for any tools in order to prevent the entry of exhaust fumes into the passenger compartment, and to maintain the current temperature control of the vehicle.
The child restraint seat frame""s cross-member may be tubular in shape. Also, a tether anchorage means may include openings that are secured to said forward extending loops by means of pin means once said loops are fitted into said openings. Also, the loops may protrude through upholstery so that they may be associated with tether anchoring means.
Moreover, it can be seen that a method of attaching a child restraint system to a vehicle is described that includes a child restraint seat having a tubular metal frame which supports anchorage attachment means comprising two forward anchorage attachment loops and one rearward anchorage attachment loop; the child restraint seat is then associated with an existing seat frame having at least two metal cross bars by a means of attachment of the child restraint seat frame to the two metal cross bars of the existing seat frame, the means of attachment including, in combination, metal bolts of suitable length to project through the metal cross bars of the existing seat frame and secured by nuts of suitable size.
The aforestated method may also include several variations. First, the two forward anchorage attachment loops and one rearward attachment loop may comprise stainless steel wires welded to a stainless steel cross tube of child restraint seat, where the stainless steel cross tube is welded to the child restraint seat frame. Also, the child restraint seat frame may comprise a tubular U-shaped seat frame with a tubular cross-brace which supports the anchorage attachment means, including the attachment means of two forward anchorage attachment loops and one rearward attachment loop, such loops are metal loops of stainless steel wire welded to a tubular cross brace of child restraint seat frame.
Moreover, the means of attachment of the tubular metal frame of the child restraint seat to the metal cross bars of the existing seat frame may include a frame with four seat mounting brackets welded to the stainless steel tube seat frame and four cap screws or bolts of sufficient length to project through the metal cross bars of the existing seat frame and are held in position by suitably sized spacers and spacer washers and hex nuts tightened into position at required torque. The method also provides accessible tether anchorages for tether hooks ready for use without need of any tools. Further, this method of attaching the child seat permits sealing of the passenger compartment to prevent entrance of exhaust fumes into the passenger compartment.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.